NSW: next day out

[r4ndll Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close r4ndll]

Can't take the call if there's no phone reception

LOL. Yea I thought about that. I'd also have more free time to go camping after I lost my job. Always thought having 'manager' in my job description meant I could make others work the weekends. Alas, it is the pointy end of a 2 year project. Will be done by August hopefully.

[Snowmann Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Snowmann]

Hi MalcolmM and others
Looks like your family and my family at Turon next week. I was thinking we meet at Lithgow Maccas at about 10.30am, then travel to the camp ground in convoy. If one of us is early we can get coffee. I am in a white Prado with colour coded bull bar and MM number plates towing a Cub camper. We can discuss Bendethera next week.
If Glen_ep is correct we might even see snow - the maps put Dark Mountain at just over 1200 metres - so I am going to pack warm clothes.

Hey Guys - Thanks for the heads-up about Abercrombie, I will have to check that out

Cheers
Mark

[MalcomM Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close MalcomM]

Hi Mark
We'll park on the highway shoulder in front of Macca's. I've seen campers trapped in the Maccas carpark and have no desire to join that club
10:30's good. We coffee up at the Hazlebrook bakery (lots of parking) so will be with the truck.
We'll be in a white 100 series with a Johnnos Evolution camper.
Can you PM me your mobile number, just in case...

Its snowing at Oberon so this might be a cold trip as well. Been at Turon when all the puddles were frozen over past 10:00 and the gas stove wouldn't light as the fuel was too cold to gasify.

cheers
Malcom

[glen_ep Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close glen_ep]

Butane wont won't work below 0 and I wouldn't rely on it anywhere under 5. Bring LPG or plan to cook during the day. Fire also works :-)

Forecast has doubled for the weekend: 20-40cm of snow @ 1000m for Saturday ALONE. More the following days @ 700m. Of course the further north of Kosciouszko you go, the less you'll have. Additionally, depending on location you could just end up with the freezing temps & wind, but no snow, because cold doesn't necessarily mean snow - you need rain as well. I learnt that the hard way in -15 winds.

Anyone who likes the idea of driving in snow would be mad not to get out to a snow destination this weekend. It's just one of those freak weather systems which you won't see again for years. I'm anticipating around half a metre where I'm heading.

[MalcomM Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close MalcomM]

Butane wont won't work below 0 and I wouldn't rely on it anywhere under 5. Bring LPG or plan to cook during the day. Fire also works :-)

Fire under the Butane bottle works well too
Kanangra Boyd is a nice area when snowing. Never seen over 75-100mm there though.

[Steve M Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close Steve M]

Glen where would be the closest to find snow leaving from penrith ?? Would t mind taking the 6 year old for a bit of fun maybe on Sunday .... Cheers Steve

[r4ndll Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close r4ndll]

Glen where would be the closest to find snow leaving from penrith ?? Would t mind taking the 6 year old for a bit of fun maybe on Sunday .... Cheers Steve

I'm in the same boat - would be keen to find out somewhere near by. I am thinking higher up in the mountains, Katoomba, Oberon way.

Guy at work also put me onto this. Just outside Canberra. Probably a weekend or very long day trip though

http://corin.com.au/

Updated - Blackheath Twitter feed -"The Blue Mountains, above about 1050M, has about a 25% chance of snow showers by next Sunday/Monday"

[MalcomM Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close MalcomM]

Why don't you look at the weather services and find out where its snowing?
Oberon was snowing so likely to be all through the Blue Mountains / Kanangra Boyd National Park areas.
Unless it stays cold, it won't last long.

[MrX Member Find all posts View Profile Close MrX]

I too am keep an eye out for snow in dem hill and have been lurking on this forum http://forum.weatherzone.com.au/ubbt.../1/Alpine_Snow

Those guys generally give you pretty good close to real time show info.

[glen_ep Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close glen_ep]

Any of the mountains behind Canberra, and south of that, is guaranteed.

All mountains north of Canberra and above 1000m have a chance - but it'll be unpredictable, smaller and melt quicker. According to maps there's been snow north/west of Goulburn near Crookwell at 900m. North of that we have:

Abercrombie - 1100m
Mt Werong - 1200m
Kanangra - 1200m
Jenolan SF - 1150m
Katoomba - 1000m
Mt Walker - 1250m
Newnes Plateu - 1150m
Sunny Corner SF - 1150m
Winburndale/Turon SF - 1220m
Mt Canobolas @ Orange - 1380m
Barrington Tops - 1400m

The higher the better, the more south the better, but ultimately you also need rain, as without it all you'll have is tremendously cold wind. I'd suggest watching the weather forecasts for rain in those locations. At the moment the key days are Saturday night through to Monday morning - because forecasts say heavy cold wind/rain on Sat and Sun, whilst Mon is clear and frosty. Those days can change slightly so monitor forecasts.

Unfortunately the forecasts have changed slightly since yesterday. They are predicting slightly less snow and at higher altitude. The FREEZING level (point at which the falling snow begins to melt into rain) has increased from 700m to 800m - but those predictions are for Victoria and Kosciouszko, not the north (north will be higher altitude). Based on what I'm seeing today I suspect the forecasts will continue to decrease, resulting in the west of Sydney not getting snow. If any, it'll probably be a few select 1200m+ locations such as Mt Canobolas or the Kanangra/Werong regions. If I'm wrong and something does happen in Katoomba, it'll be Sun AM or Mon AM, and you'd better be there early in the morning to catch it.

Note I don't know anything about weather systems - I just watch the forecasts regularly and am predicting based on what I see now, whilst comparing to what what I've seen occur previously.

This website is very cool - it shows you the past 3/7 days and future 3/6 days of snow fall:
http://www.snow-forecast.com/maps/dynamic/nsw

[Steve M Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close Steve M]

I'll be looking at either early Sunday morning or afternoon little one has party at 1.pm so katoomba would be the most I will travel in the time I have.... Cheers Steve

[Snowmann Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Snowmann]

Hi MalcolmM
PM message sent
Cheers
Mark

[glen_ep Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close glen_ep]

How was everyone's weekend? Mine was epic - both awesome and terrifying - and a MASSIVE learning experience.

Steve, catch any snow? I've seen pics of snow in Oberon and heard of a little sleet at Newnes.

[Steve M Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close Steve M]

What was so big with yours Glen ?? You have caught my attention now lol .... Cheers Steve

[glen_ep Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close glen_ep]

I'll post up a full report this week (hopefully tonight) with some pics, but a brief is that I camped in snow and enjoyed 3 days of snow driving at a depth of 20-30cm. Had fresh snow each day and drove several untouched snow trails. On Sunday I tried to reach higher altitudes to find deeper snow but in the course of which had a few slides and came too close to roll over territory.

Once on a very steep rocky trail which was slippery from water - was sliding around the narrow track grasping for traction but not even the lockers or power could help. Had to reverse a fair way down inch by inch, through angles, hair pins and overgrowth.

Another hill with deep compressed snow I started sliding backwards - and at the same time the sky went dark and near blizzard conditions started. Car stopped sliding but a little push and off it'd go again. Overhead trees started loosing their small dead branches and falling on the car. Had to come up with a way to turn around mid climb as I had no hope of maintaining enough traction to continue up or reverse out. Digging and purposeful sliding was part of the recovery!

Needless to say I made it out, and learnt a lot.